I was devastated when doctors told me my sperm count was low – but I increased it TEN-FOLD by changing my diet and using this weird trick
Freddy Shaw was devastated to learn his swimmers were barely treading water... but a few lifestyle changes has seem them move to top of the class
FREDDY Shaw raised eyebrows among his pals when he went to a fertility clinic with his girlfriend just weeks after meeting her.
The 27-year-old financial consultant, from Sevenoaks, Kent, and partner Tracy Kiss, 30, was concerned about his swimmers after reading a study online about decline fertility levels in Western men – and with good reason.
I’m not going to lie. When Tracy said she wanted me get my sperm tested, I was surprised.
Having a low sperm count can make it more difficult to conceive naturally, although successful pregnancies can still occur.
Problems with sperm, including a low sperm count and problems with sperm quality, are quite common. They're a factor in around one in three couples who are struggling to get pregnant.
Sometimes problems with sperm count and quality are associated with:
- a hormone imbalance
- a genetic problem
- having had undescended testicles as a baby
- a structural problem – for example, the tubes that carry sperm being damaged and blocked by illness or injury, or being absent from birth
- a genital infection such as chlamydia
- varicoceles (enlarged veins in the testicles)
- previous surgery to the testicles or hernia repairs
- the testicles becoming overheated
- excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and using drugs such as marijuana or cocaine
- certain medications
I’ve changed my fitness style as well. Before I would focus on weights but now I am looking after everything, so my body is really balanced.
And it’s paid off! Because this week we went back to the clinic for our new results, having submitted new samples.
I was nervous waiting for them but I needn’t have been, because I’d turned it around in a year and now have really strong swimmers. It’s great news. I’m chuffed – Tracy is too.
Tracy added:
I literally jumped around screaming when he got his results, I’m so happy for him because I know it means so much.
For our future it’s life changing. Nobody ever thinks about fertility until you discover there’s a problem and it’s too late.
Just as we plan contraception to prevent pregnancy, we should be educated in how to plan for a safe and healthy pregnancy when the time is right.
It was awful to think when we’d first got together and discovered Freddy had a low sperm count because we’d spoke about what we wanted in life - from moving in together to getting married and having children.
To think he may never father a child was such a shocking concept to accept.
It made us re-evaluate how we saw our future together, to think if his fertility was dropping quickly we would have moved our plans forward to have a baby, rather than wait too long and potentially never be able to have a child of our own together.
I’m astounded he’s increased his sperm count and quality so much. We were hoping he might hit the minimum level of fertility (15million sperm per ml) but 51million was phenomenal.
I’m very much against smoking and when we first met I made sure he quit which I think has really helped his sperm quality.
We’ve found a nice routine of working together at the gym, eating clean and healthy and cutting down on partying.
Being vegan I’ve made it my mission to get Freddy to eat more fruit and vegetables as his plate was always stacked with just meat and carbs before - now he goes meat-free for the majority of the week and feels far better.
Professor Tim Child, Medical Director, Oxford Fertility, told Fabulous:
Many modern day lifestyle factors can affect sperm in a bad way. Examples include poor diet, obesity, inactivity, smoking, excess alcohol, and recreational drugs.
Freddy has made lifestyle changes over the last few months that have significantly improved his sperm count and mobility.
He also says he feels better in himself for having made these changes.
Freddy’s case is a perfect example of how men really can improve their own fertility, and how speaking to a fertility doctor can help guide them in the right direction.
Why has sperm count plummeted so low?
Sperm counts have plummeted by nearly two-thirds since the 70s, a major study reveals.
Humans could become extinct, experts warn as they blame modern living for damaging male fertility and warn the shocking findings are a “wake-up call”.
Scientists claim chemicals in plastics, pesticides, poor diet, smoking and obesity are all harming men's sperm.
Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem reviewed 185 studies involving 43,000 men.
They found men in Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand have seen their sperm concentration fall by 52 per cent in the past four decades.
And sperm counts have dropped by 59 per cent in the same period.
It means growing numbers of young Brit men are now infertile – and more couples failing to conceive naturally.
One in six UK couples struggle to get pregnant.
And more than two per cent of babies in the UK are conceived annually through IVF – around 13,000 in England and Wales alone.
But researchers found blokes in South America, Asia and Africa have been unaffected.
The findings are published in the journal Human Reproduction Update.
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